We need to talk about the Warburg effect

RJ DeBerardinis, NS Chandel - Nature metabolism, 2020 - nature.com
Nature metabolism, 2020nature.com
We are approaching the 100th anniversary of Otto Warburg's first description of the
metabolic phenotype bearing his name—a propensity for tumours to metabolize glucose
anaerobically rather than aerobically, even when oxygen is available. Generations of
scientists have studied the Warburg effect, yet misconceptions persist about its causes and
relationship to oxidative metabolism in the mitochondria. Here, we review the definition of
the Warburg effect and discuss its place within a modern understanding of cancer biology.
We are approaching the 100th anniversary of Otto Warburg’s first description of the metabolic phenotype bearing his name—a propensity for tumours to metabolize glucose anaerobically rather than aerobically, even when oxygen is available. Generations of scientists have studied the Warburg effect, yet misconceptions persist about its causes and relationship to oxidative metabolism in the mitochondria. Here, we review the definition of the Warburg effect and discuss its place within a modern understanding of cancer biology.
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